Mumofballetmaddaughter

When my daughter was working towards a diploma (2006 -2009) it was a further education qualification and was classed as non-advanced as opposed to degree level which was advanced. I think from memory, child benefit was able to be claimed up until the 20th birthday if in non advanced education but you did have to reapply each year from 18. Not sure if the rules are still the same 3 years on though. Housing benefit was also able to be claimed if the student was aged 16 - 19 in full time non advanced education, living in rented accommodation for the purposes of the course and in receipt of child benefit. The benefit was based on the young person's income and NOT that of their parents/guardians. Again I'm not sure if this is still the case with all the changes but it is worth investigating.

As someone who lives in the far SW and is used to travelling long distances I sympathise with your dilemma. IMO though a 5 hour round journey plus class time could become a chore especially during the winter months. Perhaps give it a go but set a time limit in which to assess whether or not your daughter benefits sufficiently from the classes to justify the long trek and if the scheme lives up to her expectations.

In my experience I think it's nigh on impossible to second guess what any school or company are looking for with regards to physique. My advice to anyone would be that if your child wants to audition and is prepared for rejection and you can afford the time and money then go for it. If you treat it as a masterclass then whatever the outcome, it will have been a valuable experience.

From age 15 onwards until she went to vocational school at 17, my daughter was attending 4 schools and had 5 teachers as none could individually offer the amount and variety of lessons that she wanted to do. Ballet classes consisted of RAD/ISTD Adv1 vocational grades along with freework classes. Tap/Modern were ISTD Adv 1 vocational grades. She'd finished the ordinary grades for ballet (G8) and jazz (Gold) around the age of 14. The jazz that she did from 15 was commercial style. Mon - 2.5 hrs ballet (2 lessons) Tue - 1 hr ballet Wed - 2.5 hrs ballet (2 lessons) and 45 mins conditioning Thu - 1.5 hrs ballet & 1 hr drama Fri - 1 hr ballet Sat - 1.5 hrs ballet and 1 hr tap. Transfer to another school to do 1 hr conditioning/pilates and 1.5 hrs ballet. Then off to yet another school to do 2 hrs jazz Sun - 1 hr modern. There was also the occasional singing lesson on a Thursday. It was a constant juggling act to fit all of this in while studying for GCSEs (10) and it was a relief when it was over!!

Thanks Julie, much appreciated, it's a very interesting post.

afab, the audition consisted of a 1 hour and 15 min ballet class, including pointe work which was followed by a short jazz class. No solos were needed as all the work was set. Before the audition (my daughter's was in the afternoon) parents and students were shown around the school and observed classes, the students then went off to the audition. Afterwards, the principal gave a talk to parents and students followed by a Q and A session. This lastly approx 30 mins. Following this, the students were interviewed by the principal and afterwards all underwent a physical assessment. Applicants only have the 1 audition and the letter, with the offer of a place was dated the day after the audition. There is a coffee shop/canteen where parents can wait during the audition or alternatively, there are Starbucks and Cafe Nero close by. Piccadilly railway station is a 15 minute walk away and there's a good rail link from the airport to it. The school is only 2 mins walk away from Oxford Rd rail station but I'm not sure if all trains stop there. There are several public car parks nearby. Good luck for the future, I hope this helps.

aileen - I think at the time my daughter auditioned for Tring, it was a 2 year course although my memory may be letting me down on this. But if correct, students would have been 18 when moving on to other schools such as MT/contemporary. I think Central also had some older students. Please bear in mind though that this was in 2005 so there may have been a lot of changes since. afab - I was surprised to hear that students continued training following graduation from 6th form as I too expected them to be going into employment especially as a dancers shelf life isn't very long. The prospect of paying out for goodness knows how many additional years didn't fill us with glee either!! In 2005, when my daughter was 15, for entry at 16, we thought that Tring would be perfect for her. The course looked excellent, the staff were lovely, the ballet students we saw had wonderful technique, In addition to this, the location was superb and it was a very safe environment. On the other hand with NBS we were concerned about the possibility of her having to live independently in the centre of Manchester at such a young age. At Tring we were told, the students could only go out if they went in a group and they seemed to have very little opportunity to be independent A year later however at age 16, for entry at 17 and having to audition again due to lack of funding the previous year, my daughter had matured considerably and was used to having some independence, nights out with friends etc. A funded place at NBS was offered and the thought of living in Manchester no longer threw us into panic. I'm a firm believer in fate and for my daughter, things have worked out well. Although it's been a very long journey, with plenty of rejections along the way, my daughter has never regretted the path she's chosen.

Congratulations to your dd SWE. Well done to her (and you) for perservering. Although it's no consolation at the time, the nos make the yes' that much sweeter.

Regarding Northern Ballet School in Manchester, my daughter went there from 2006 - 2009 so things may well have changed (and my memory may be a bit hazy) but here goes:- All students follow the same course in year 1 and then in year 2 they focus on either classical ballet or musical theatre. I think from memory the principal made the final decision as to who did what based on the 1st year assessments. The jazz focus was the more popular so my daughter was lucky as she was in a very small (approx 8 students) group on the classical course. Classical students continued to study tap, jazz, contemporary and singing, but to a lesser degree and jazz students had regular ballet classes. The ballet classes were taught by several different teachers and were a mixture of free work and syllabus, pas de deux and pointe work. I think from memory, students had to do 1 RAD class per week of whichever grade they were working towards. ISTD ballet classes were an optional extra. My daughter enjoyed her time at the school and found it to be a very caring environment and as her year group was quite small (approx 30 ish) close friendships were formed. At the graduation ceremony, 1 of the students spoke about how much like a family they'd become and how they'd relied upon each other for support during the 3 years. This brought tears to quite a few eyes in the audience. Attached to the school is the Dancehouse theatre and this was used frequently for classes and show rehearsals. The building itself is old but has some lovely studios. Each December, the classical students performed a full length classical ballet and depending on the numbers required, some of the jazz students were asked to perform with them. At Easter it was the turn of the jazz students to perform a MT show and in July there was a showcase with pieces from both shows. The graduation ceremony followed the final show in July and parents were invited to a get together afterwards in one of the studios. Each show was held over several days which provided valuable performance experience for the students and gave ample opportunity for family and friends to watch. In the 3rd year, ballet students auditioned for companies, mainly in Europe. The jazz students were more fortunate in that their auditions were mostly in the UK. Agents auditioned at the school and successful students were put on their books. If they find you work though you have to pay commission for the duration of the contract. Cruise ship auditions were also held at the school. The school doesn't have it's own agency but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The down side is you have to secure your own contracts but the plus side is you won't be paying commission either. My daughter has worked with several people who despite arranging their own contracts had to pay commission to their school's agency for the first year after graduation. As this was 40%, this was a hefty chunk out of their wage. The school had (certainly during my daughter's time) a very high graduate employment rate although most of the contracts were on cruise ships. There were only a very small number who managed to secure ballet/contemporary contracts and these were in Europe. My daughter although desperate to join a ballet company wasn't one of them!! Although she was adamant initially that she didn't want to go down the cruise ship route, she decided to give it a go and has never looked back. She thoroughly enjoys life at sea and is now in rehearsals preparing for another contract. She earns a good wage and has been around the world several times. I would say that her experience of auditioning in Europe was an eye opener as often, after paying a small fortune for hotels and flights, to places we'd never heard of, the goal posts would change. Most of the companies pre selected auditionees for the auditions from CVs, which clearly stated height etc, and photos and then at times she was told she was the wrong height or the wrong build. Then there were auditions where they cut people after a couple of bar exercises or others having got all the way to the end to be told, thank you for attending but there are no contracts at the moment. All very frustrating when you've spent a lot of time and money getting there. Not to mention the worry when your youngster is a long way from home, alone and lost and the battery dies on their phone. I would say that for anyone looking at vocational schools especially for 6th form, check out recent graduate destinations. We were very surprised at the final audition at Tring to be told that after graduating, a lot of the students went on to other dance schools or to university. It wasn't quite what we were expecting. There is no accommodation at NBS so most rent rooms in student accommodation. Unite have quite a few properties in Manchester, 2 just a few minutes walk away. New Medlock house,albeit expensive, has good security. The building is fenced in, with key fob access to the main gate and the individual blocks of flats. My daughter lived there for the full 3 years and opted to keep the same flat for the duration.

Frangapani, I feel so sorry for you and your DD. It's very hard trying to keep positive when things feel so raw but time is a great healer. As has been said before, this doesn't mean it's the end of the road, just a blip along the journey. Good luck to your DD for the future, I'm sure there will be many positive outcomes for her.

Congratulations to all those with a yes letter, it's been lovely to read about your good news but commiserations to everyone with a no. Please take heart though as this just means it's only a no at the moment. My daughter was never an associate, as she never made it further than the RBS waiting lists. She did get to the RBS summer school once but most years was either given a no or ended up on the the waiting list. She was on the waiting lists at age 16 for a DaDa at 2 schools for their 6th forms and then finally at the age of 17 was successful in getting a funded place. My daughter never gave up, despite all the rejections and since graduating in 2009 has been lucky enough to have secured regular contracts. Sorry for waffling on a bit, but I hope this gives some encouragement to everyone who is feeling a bit low at the moment.